One of the direct financial supporting schemes that the Danube Transnational Programme (DTP) offers to support the Strategy in reaching its targets is the establishment of a seed money facility, managed directly by the DTP Managing Authority/Joint Secretariat (MA/JS).This instrument is meant to provide support for the development of complex strategic transnational projects in some Priority Area of the EUSDR, regardless the financial instrument to be addressed by the project developed, be it national, mainstream EU, transnational or cross border or by any other public or private investor (such as IFIs) or public-private partnership.

An artificial intelligence system designed by researchers at the University of Cambridge is able to detect pain levels in sheep, which could aid in early diagnosis and treatment of common, but painful, conditions in animals.

The researchers have developed an AI system which uses five different facial expressions to recognise whether a sheep is in pain, and estimate the severity of that pain. The results could be used to improve sheep welfare, and could be applied to other types of animals, such as rodents used in animal research, rabbits or horses.

Bovine leukemia is a systemic, malignant lymphosarcoma in cows which is mainly caused by infection with a retrovirus, bovine leukemia virus (BLV). In 2016, 3,125 cases of bovine leukemia were reported in Japan, which was the largest number of cases among the infectious bovine diseases designated by the Act on Domestic Animal Infectious Diseases Control. Bovine leukemia is commonly seen in other Asian countries, South America and North America.

About 35 percent of cows in Japan have been reportedly infected with BLV. Although the rampant infection has caused a considerable economic loss to dairy and beef farmers, there has been no effective vaccine or treatment available to control the spread and progression of the disease.